Why Eating Organic is Not Enough & What You Can Do About It

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Unless you are eating them today. In which case, you now have to eat 6-12 apples to get the nutritional value of one apple in 1976. | Source

There often comes a time in our lives when we begin to question certain fundamentals we once pretty much took for granted. Like the safety of our food supply. Sure, nuanced approaches to nutrition vary somewhat, and have changed over time. We've seen fad diets, serious diets and silly diets come and go; the food pyramid has been amended, school lunch programs have changed, along with some USDA regulations; and there have been some real advances in science.

But to the casual observer, the average lay person who doesn't think too much about what they eat, none of these things have necessarily appeared to be earth-shattering, significantly healthful, or in the case of all the genetic engineering, potentially life-threatening or downright alarming. Thankfully, we have recently witnessed awareness being heightened and seen some effective social action against Monsanto, and that is very heartening.

In a recent video by the author of Why Diets Are Failing Us, Peter Greenlaw looks closely at what has happened to our food supply and how we can make changes in order to begin living healthier, longer lives. Throughout his work, we are witness to Greenlaw's expertise; but even more importantly, we are the beneficiaries of his candor, his passion and his commitment to bringing about a paradigm shift in our understanding, and hopefully to our everyday food choices.

His best-selling book goes into significant detail about the toxicity of our environment, and subsequently of our bodies; the root causes of our nutritional deficiency; and the role of GMOs and how harmful they are for us and the environment.

Greenlaw covers a lot of material, citing various studies and giving a number of sobering as well as illustrative statistics. One of the examples that really caught my attention was that in 2012 one million individuals died of heart attacks. He then stated that before 1930 heart attacks were almost unheard of; then he poses the question, “What did we introduce in 1930?” The answer is, “Processed foods.”

This, combined with the fact that there are some 100,000 chemicals in use today and only about 560 have been tested on humans to determine their various effects, makes for a highly toxic population. Greenlaw states that a recent study of newborns showed that the babies had at least 287 chemicals in their blood.

In addition to unprecedented levels of toxicity, we are also plagued with nutritional deficiencies. We consume too many calories and not nearly enough nutrients. He stated that by the year 2030 a full 50% of Americans will be obese. This is a national pandemic.

Remember the old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? I grew up with that saying. In order to receive the same amount of nutritional value as we did back in 1976 from one apple, you would need to eat 6-12 apples today. Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it? A dozen apples a day…and who could eat that many anyway?

Our bodies need to be able to absorb nutrients, and instead many of us are merely feeding them empty calories that cannot be utilized as the fuel our bodies need to run healthily.

This is the primary reason that even eating organic is not enough. True, organic fruits, veggies and meats do not have pesticides and that is good. But recent studies have proven that there is no difference nutritionally between organic and non-organic.

What has happened is that the natural disease fighting properties of our amazing body’s immune system, those of our T cells, and our organs is being significantly diminished. This is occurring because of the toxicity and the nutritional deficiency of our compromised, tampered with, modified and genetically engineered food supply.

Thankfully, we do have viable options, healthy alternatives and solutions available to us. But without taking specific, intentional steps to detoxify and replenish ourselves, we place ourselves at on-going risk. An important step is to become better informed about the implications of our daily food choices. There are minimally processed, whole food options which are soy and gluten free, low glycemic and loaded with clean protein.

The short video, “Are You Toxic?” at www.isamovie.com is excellent. Peter Greenlaw’s book is a tremendous resource. His video can be seen below. And you may request more information by emailing me for a personal reply at wheycoolhealthstyle@gmail.com

What is clear is that we must become much more aware, and take proactive measures to ensure that we are doing all we can to help ourselves and those we care about if we want to live healthier, longer lives.

Before finally honoring my entrepreneurial spirit, well into mid-life, I spent most of my career in non-profit leadership. The non-profit world can only exist because of government grants or the philanthropic generosity...

Comments 6 comments

Raising awareness....it is a must for conscientious writers....our society needs to be made aware of the dangers that surround us in the soil, the water, the air....excellent recommendation, Linda. I'll check it out.

Linda Compton 3 years ago from The Land of Enchantment Author

Thank you, Sir William. I'm grateful for your comments and look forward to your feedback. I was quite moved by Greenlaw's passion and candor. I agree with you that we need to raise awareness, and the way a few huge conglomerates are controlling so much of our food supply has gone too far.

MsDora 3 years ago from The Caribbean

"There is no difference nutritionally between organic and non-organic." Nobody ever says this; that is why we have to keep reading and listening. Thank you for underscoring this and other important points.

Linda Compton 3 years ago from The Land of Enchantment Author

Dear Ms. Dora, thank you for your comments! I confess when I first began listening, reading and learning more about this, I was a bit resistant. Now, the more I learn, the more passionate I become. There are things we can do, and I believe we must do, to be better stewards of the temple which houses our spirit. If we don't take care of our bodies, where are we going to live?

aviannovice 3 years ago from Stillwater, OK

Back in the old days, who would have thought that life would come to this? I grew up with organic food that was home grown. I had milk to drink from the dairy. Now, all we get is questionable food when we purchase it, except of course, if we go organic. Good work, Linda. The world needs to know the truth.

Linda Compton 3 years ago from The Land of Enchantment Author

Hi Deb, thanks so much for your feedback, and for sharing your memories and perspective. I confess, I was not very receptive to some of this information when I first began to seriously look into it. I didn't want to believe we've gotten so far afield. Now, the more I learn the passionate I am about detoxifying and energizing our lives with clean whole food! Appreciate you! L.